SWALLOWING POISONS
Poisons of an acid nature, such as hydrochloric, sulphuric, nitric, or oxalic acids, are neutralized by alkalines, such as magnesia, chalk, soda, and soap, followed by soothing drinks or sweet oil.
Remember that carbolic acid is not an acid, and is not antidoted with alkalines. The swallowing of carbolic acid should be quickly followed by diluted alcohol, and if this drug is not ready at hand many of the numerous alcoholic patent medicines will do just as well. Epsom salts should be given in abundance.
Poisons of an alkaline nature, such as lye, washing soda, ammonia, etc., are antidoted with vinegar or lemon juice, followed by soothing drinks or sweet oil.
A complete table of poisons and their antidotes will be found in the appendix.
Poison ivy, as soon as detected, should be treated as follows: Thoroughly scrub the affected part with tincture of green soap and hot water, which often prevents the trouble developing. Clean pieces of gauze may be wrung out of lime water and placed over the inflamed and much swollen surface, keeping them very wet. At night an ointment of zinc oxide may be applied over a painting of "black wash" (to be obtained at drug stores). Poison (trifoliolate, or _three-leaved_) ivy resembles Virginia Creeper, and all nurses and caretakers should be able to recognize it.
Another treatment for poison ivy which is said to be very efficient is as follows: Moisten a bit of cotton with a ten-percent solution of carbolic acid and apply to the affected area--then immediately (about one-half minute) wipe off this carbolic acid with another piece of cotton saturated with alcohol.
Matches, roach powders, fly poisons, washing fluids, lye, paris green, antiseptic tablets, and pieces of green paper, should all be kept out of the child"s reach; and, in case of accidental swallowing of any of them, the physician should be sent for at once, and with the message "Come!" should be given the name of the poison swallowed--if it is known.
After the antidote is given, soothing drinks are usually administered, such as raw white of egg, milk, flaxseed tea, slippery elm, etc.
Complete rest in bed is always essential, and external heat is necessary for the body chills easily as the child grows weak.
Toothache may be temporarily relieved by applying an ice bag below the jaw, thus diminishing the flow of blood to the tooth, and a hot-water bottle to the cheek, which causes the skin vessels to fill with blood, thus relieving the tension in the vessels of the tooth.
If there is a cavity, a small piece of cotton moistened with oil of cloves and packed well into it may give much relief.
Children and adults should make a bi-annual pilgrimage to the dentist, who seeks out beginning cavities, early treatment of which will prevent these dreadful aches and later ill health.
BURNS
Burns and scalds are not at all uncommon with children, whose eagerness to explore and desire to investigate often leads them into trouble.
1. The simple reddening of the skin--slight burns and sunburn--simply needs protecting oil, or equal parts of oil and lime water, and is to be covered with sterile gauze.
2. The burns which destroy the outer layer of the skin, producing a blister, are treated much as a wound would be treated. The blister, if larger than a half dollar, should be opened near the edge with a needle which has been pa.s.sed through a flame. The serum should be pressed out and the parts protected by a piece of gutta-percha that has been disinfected with some antiseptic solution; this covering keeps the dressings from sticking, thus avoiding the destruction of the new-forming tissues.
3. When the tissues are injured in the more severe burns, the surrounding flesh is carefully disinfected with boracic-acid solution, and the same dressing applied as described for the "blister burns."
Balsam Peru is a healing balm for burns of this cla.s.sification.
If a child"s clothes catch on fire he is instantly to be thrown on the floor and any heavy woolen fabric, such as a curtain, table spread, blanket, or rug, is to be thrown over him (beginning at the neck) and the flames thus smothered. The clothing is now cut off, and if more than one-third of the body is burned the child should be taken to the hospital for constant care; and if more than one-half of the body is injured recovery is doubtful. Great care should be taken in keeping the unburned portion of the body warm, as there is a great tendency for the child to become very cold as he weakens from both the nervous shock and from the absorption of toxins.
Acid chemical burns are treated with baking soda, except in the case of carbolic acid (misnamed), which is treated with alcohol; alkaline chemical burns are dressed in vinegar or lemon juice compresses.
Methods for restoring the drowned should be understood by every man, woman, and youth. These methods are more fully taken up in works devoted to emergencies and will not be discussed in detail at this time.
FAINTING
Consciousness is quickly restored to the fainting child by lowering the head--laying him flat on the floor--while an a.s.sistant raises the legs perpendicularly. Cold dashes of water may be slapped on the chest with a towel, while the face is bathed or sprinkled with cold water.
Consciousness is usually quickly restored by the above suggestions, in connection with plenty of fresh air.
A sudden blow on the head occasionally results in a severe condition known as concussion of the brain. There is a partial or complete loss of consciousness lasting from a few moments to an hour or two. Pallor of the skin and a sense of bewilderment accompany concussion of the brain.
Rest, quiet, and darkness should prevail until the physician arrives and makes an examination. External heat to the extremities may be applied, but no stimulants are to be administered until so ordered by the physician.
It is wise to seek medical advice in the case of odd or unusual behavior after a fall on the head.
CHAPTER x.x.xV
DIET AND NUTRITION
Most interesting is the study of the food as it pa.s.ses through the processes of digestion, absorption, a.s.similation, and oxidation--all definite and important parts of the great cycle through which everything we eat pa.s.ses on its way from the table to the tissues.
Elimination is the last step in nutrition, and is the process by which the body rids itself of the broken down cells and other poisonous and useless wastes. These various phases of bodily nutrition may be expressed in a single term--metabolism.
What we eat and how much we eat must be carefully planned, for our body temple is really made of what we eat. If you were erecting a beautiful mansion you would not think of allowing cheap, trashy, and inferior building materials to enter into the construction of your home. Neither should you permit unfit and inferior materials to become a part of the daily dietary of your little boy or girl, thus to become a part of their bodily structure.
a.s.sIMILATION OF FOOD
Following the process of digestion in the stomach and intestine, the nutritive food elements are absorbed through the wall of the bowel by the wonderfully adapted little villus, and distributed by various routes to the uttermost parts of the body. The sugars (all starches are changed into sugar) are carried in the portal blood stream to the liver, where they are actually stored away in the form of glycogen which, in a most intelligent manner, is dealt out to the body from hour to hour as it is needed for fuel. If all the sugar, after a hearty meal, were poured into the circulation at once, the blood stream would be overwhelmed and the kidneys would be forced to excrete it in the urine. This unnecessary waste is avoided by the liver"s storing sugar after each meal and dealing it out to the body as required.
Likewise, the proteins also pa.s.s through the liver on their way to the body. Just what action the liver exerts upon proteins is not wholly known at the present writing. The digested fats are absorbed at once by the lacteals, the beginning of the intestinal lymphatic system, by which they are carried to the large veins at the root of the neck and there emptied into the blood stream. We have now traced our various food elements through the processes of digestion and absorption in the alimentary tract, some going through the liver, and others through the lymphatic system, until they circulate in the blood stream itself.
It is from these food substances, circulating in the blood stream, that the various cells of the body must a.s.similate into themselves such portions as they require for purposes of heat and energy and for the repair of their cell substance. This specialized work of cell a.s.similation converts the dissolved watery food in the blood into solid tissues, exactly reversing the process of digestion.
With a most profound intelligence, each of these body cells and tissues, bone and nerve fiber, muscle and organ, selects from the blood stream just its supply or portion of the food elements requisite to its upbuilding and maintenance. The mysteries of a.s.similation are effected by means of chemical substances called "enzymes," similar to those found in the digestive organs, but acting in an entirely different manner, in that they build up solids out of liquids instead of converting solids into liquids.
ELIMINATION OF BODY WASTES
Metabolism consists of a twofold role--an upbuilding and a tearing down process. After the food is all digested, absorbed, and a.s.similated, having become a part of the bodily organ, bone, muscle, and nerve fiber, then begins the work of tearing it down--of liberating its heat and energy--to be followed by its elimination from the body through the sweat glands, uriniferous tubules of the kidneys, etc. The carbohydrates (starches and sugars), together with the fats, are completely burned up in the body and are then eliminated in the form of water (thrown off through the sweat) and carbonic acid gas given up by the lungs.
The proteins, or nitrogenous foods, are not so completely burned up in the body. The ashes which result from their combustion are not simple substances like the water and CO_{2} of the carbohydrates. This protein ash is represented by a number of complicated substances, some of which are solid (protein clinkers), which acc.u.mulate in the body and help to bring about many diseases, such as gout, headache, fatigue, biliousness, etc.
These protein ashes and clinkers are further acted upon--split up and sifted--by the liver, and are finally eliminated by the kidneys in the form of urea, uric acid, etc. The body being unable to store up protein, is often greatly embarra.s.sed when one eats more of this substance than is daily required to replenish the waste of the body, for it must all be immediately split up in the system, and the over-abundant and irritating ashes must be carried off by the eliminating organs. Now, the overeating of sugars, starches, or fats, is not such a serious matter, as they may be stored in the liver and subsequently used; and even if they are eaten in excess of what the liver can care for they acc.u.mulate as fat or add extra fuel to the fires of the body, their ashes being carried off in the form of such harmless substances as water and carbon dioxide (CO_{2}); but the overeating of protein substances is always a strain on the body and should be avoided.
ELEMENTS OF NUTRITION
There are seven distinct elements entering into the composition of human foods--protein, starch, sugar, fat, salts, cellulose, and water, not to mention enzymes, vitamines, and other little-known chemical principles. These elements are all variously concerned in the nourishment, energizing, and warming of the body.
PROTEINS
The proteins are the structure builders of the body. While starches, fats, and sugars may be compared to the coal that feeds the locomotive, the proteins represent the iron and steel that are used from time to time to repair the engine and replace its worn parts. The essential chemical difference between starch and protein is that the latter contains nitrogen and a small amount of sulphur and phosphorus.